Bake a cake the day of or day before?Posted by CorkSoaker on 11/5/13 at 8:51 pm

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Had a discussion with someone who tried to convince me that I should bake my cakes the day before an event rather than the morning of for taste purposes. Always thought day of would provide fresher and therefor better tasting cakes.

re: Bake a cake the day of or day before?Posted by CITWTT on 11/6/13 at 8:39 am to heypaul

The simple reason for the day before of importance is the event is a F'up. Most bakeries brush their cakes with a sweet syrup on the tops of them to moisten them a bit before construction of the finished product.

ETA, I remember that the syrup is generally made with apricot preserves for the base of it, not an over powering flavor that the eater would note.

re: Bake a cake the day of or day before?Posted by hungryone on 11/6/13 at 10:39 am to CITWTT

Depends on the kind of cake, and whether you are icing/decorating. Highly decorated cakes are generally baked a couple of days in advance and the layers frozen (by pro bakeries). The frozen cake is a more stable decorating surface and is less likely to bubble or distort the decorations.

Pound cakes are also very tasty after 12-24 hours of mellowing. Your basic box mix baked in a sheet pan won't be harmed by a day's rest.